Mer & Alex
by itsrainingscalpels
Summary: "What's your name?", his prolonged question. Silence followed, the air tense enough that even them, two six year olds, could sense it. This silence continued until a small voice broke through it. "Meredith" And with that, she stepped back, allowing the wooden door to close behind her.
1. A Gracious Introduction

**Authors Note: Hi guys! this is my first story, obviously. I'm not really sure if anyone will read this, but hopefully someone will. This well definitely be many chapters long. This took me a while to write, so I'm not sure how long it will take for me to update. I'm hoping I'll be able to update this once a week but I'm not sure. It's basically gonna be an AU of Meredith and Alex growing up together. Enough of my rambling, here's the story. (Also, please Review (: )**

 **Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN GREY'S ANATOMY, jeez! stop reminding me :(**

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 **Chapter 1 - A Gracious Introduction - 1986 - 6 years old**

Alex Karev sat on the steps of his house's front porch. He was locked out. His father had come home again, making his home feel less like a homey place. He had been drinking again… the really strong stuff, at least Alex thought since it made his breath stink the worst. Four years with his father and his father's drinks, he had learned the difference between each drink. His mother, on the other hand, she had always done her best for Alex, but she had stopped taking her pills that she took every morning as Alex ate breakfast. With her pills gone, she was acting weirder and weirder, sometimes she would lash out, and others, she would sit on the couch and stare straight ahead, muttering under her breath. Alex had coped with the changes by playing with his little brother and sister, Aaron and Amber, but they were gone too. His grandmother had come and taken them back to Oregon to live with her, but not Alex. His grandmother had never known that the three Karev and Evans children existed. She had come down to visit and saw the terrible environment and the two children there. Alex's mom let her take them, never giving a second thought to it. Alex had been at school. He came home and they were gone. His father, in his drunken stupor, had told Alex that his grandma had purposely not taken Alex along, that she didn't love him, and Alex believed him.

The loud crash of a trashcan lid tore Alex from his thoughts and he glanced around his otherwise silent neighborhood and eventually down to the small video camera in his hands. He had found it in a large box filled with other treasures in the basement earlier that morning. He had seen on shows with his mom that some people would videotape their day and their friends, and others who videotaped themselves talking to the camera.

'It doesn't seem too hard, maybe I could do that too.' Alex thought to himself. And with that, Alex carefully set his camera down on the porch in front of him and lay down on his stomach so he would be eye level with the lens. He flipped the screen out and turned it towards it so he could see what he looked like and then he clicked the 'record' button. Alex nervously cleared his throat, suddenly not knowing what to say, it was as if he was caught on stage with only his underpants on. He opened his mouth and began to talk, his voice wavering slightly at the beginning.

"Hi, I'm Alex Karev, I'm six years old. That means I'm in 1st grade at Johnson. My teacher's name for this year is Mrs. Tuck, she's the worst teacher ever. She never listens to us, she always says her daughter is smarter than us, and she puts me in the trouble corner. The trouble corner is almost as bad as it is at my house, and that's saying a lot since my dad is how he is and my mommy is… " Alex stopped there, not knowing how to explain his mother's behavior. He took a shaky breath and continued on his story, "Well, she's acting weird. I remember when I was 4, this is while Aaron was still here, but before Amber was born, she took these pills every morning while me and Aaron ate breakfast, but she doesn't take them anymore. She just sits on the couch all day and looks around with this weird look on her face. Or she sometimes gets mad, like, really mad. And she'll yell at me about snakes. Back when she took pills, she said she was… sch, schizo? I don't really know what that means, but it makes my dad very mad. He was hurting my mommy and I tried to help her but then I got in trouble with my dad-" Alex winced as an angry roar came spilling out of the window, followed by a shout and the ping of shattering glass. "That's my dad, he locked me outside." Alex explained, painstakingly calm. And with that, he stopped. Alex stared at the yellowish-green grass just beyond his camera for a few still moments. The boy rolled over onto his back and stared up at the blue sky above him, his hands behind his head. The blue sky full of fluffy white clouds, brought him peace, not that he would ever admit that. Alex remained there, remembering the easier times in his life. He never realized that life wasn't supposed to be this hard for anyone, especially a six-year-old, and he probably wouldn't for a while longer. This punishment of being locked outside was sadly not a new experience for Alex. He looked up as a shiny red station wagon pulled up to the house across the street. Alex had only been living here for a little over a year, and the whole time, that house had always been abandoned, showing no signs of life. It gave him some strange sense of closure to know that someone would be living there, and hopefully fixing the terribly overgrown flowerbeds. Maybe there would be another kid in the neighborhood to play with, the only kids were him and the bully of a fifth grader who lived down the street. Alex sat up as a small girl with pin-straight blonde hair and bangs, a wide blue headband, and a faded pink flowered dress stumbled out of the back seat of the station wagon, an obvious look of sadness dancing across her face. Her mother soon stepped out of the car and began to walk towards the house. He watched as the little girl ran up and tugged on the back of her mother's coat. The mother whipped around and turned to face her child.

"What!" the mother yelled. Even from across the street he could still hear their conversation and the anger in the mother's words. A tear took it's nearly invisible path down the girl's cheek.

"I-I miss Seattle, I wanna go back." The child mumbled. Seattle? What was Seattle? Alex looked away from the apparently dysfunctional family and looked up towards the sky, as if that would answer his questions concerning this 'Seattle'.

"Stop mumbling and whining, you're a big girl, big girls don't mumble and whine. Just, get the bags out of the car and into the house, we'll unpack later." And with that, the mother turned and stomped away into the house. The girl sighed at her mother's dismissal and she headed towards the back of the station wagon. Alex sat there for a few seconds before he shot up, grabbing his camera from its spot on the porch and ran across the street to go help the girl. As the girl popped open the trunk, she heard a growing noise coming from behind her. She turned around and was nearly scared out of her skin to see a boy about her age run up behind her.

"Hey, uh, you need some help?" He asked cautiously. The girl backed up against the car, but to Alex's surprise, eventually smiled shyly and nodded towards the now opened trunk. She turned her back to Alex and reached into the trunk, heaving out a small suitcase that seemed to belong to her. She extended the handle and rolled it behind her up the driveway to her front door. As she reached the front door, she sat the bag down. Alex shrugged and pulled out another suitcase and rolled it up the driveway, passing the small blonde on his way to the porch. They fell into a routine like this, one person always grabbing a bag as the other set it down on the porch, always passing by each other halfway up the driveway. With both of them working, they soon finished. Alex returned to the station wagon and closed the trunk, making sure it clicked shut. He huffed and ran up to the porch to talk to the girl.

"I'm Alex, I live right across the street." He pointed to his house, with the chipped white paint. He turned back to her with a smile. He outstretched his free hand to the girl, but she only shifted her gaze from his eyes to his camera, and finally to his hand. She turned away from him as she began to move a bag from to porch to the entrance of her new house. As she went to move another bag, and then another, she glanced up at him standing awkwardly, shifting uncomfortably on his feet.

Very bluntly, he asked, "Do you speak?" The girl dropped her next bag and glared up at him. Sadly for her, her soft, almost doll-like face, and her seemingly caring features, rendered her glare pretty pathetic. Alex had to hold back a laugh, knowing a glare did not sit well across her face. She sighed as she placed her last bag inside, and she then reluctantly turned to face Alex. She stepped backwards into the doorway, but kept the door propped open with her hand. She looked him up and down, as if she were sizing him up, and eventually stared straight back at him. She tilted her head, like she way waiting for him to ask his question. Alex finally realized she was waiting and he took in a deep breath.

"What's your name?" his prolonged question.

Silence followed, the air tense enough that even them, two six-year-olds, could sense it. This silence continued until a small voice broke through it.

"Meredith"

And with that, she stepped back, allowing the wooden door to close behind her.


	2. Memory Lane

**Authors Note: Hey guys, it's me, again. Sorry it took me so long to get this next chapter up, bur I'm doing my best to get them up ASAP, but I am writing this as I go, with almost no idea of what's happening next. Throughout the rest of my story, I'm guessing it will go kinda like this, switching perspectives each chapter. Anywho, so yeah, here's chapter 2 of Mer  & Alex!**

 **Disclaimer: It's not mine I promise, besides the random characters I make up and the plot, But still! Not mine!**

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 **Chapter 2 - Memory Lane - 1986 - 6 years old**

CLUNK

Meredith's shovel left a small dent in the ground, right where she planned to start her hole

CLUNK

With another heave of the shovel, the hole grew slightly deeper, but not much.

CLUNK

Another satisfactory jab, but it still was not anywhere near close enough, and with Meredith's noodle arms, it might take awhile.

CLINK

A rock. Her shovel just had to hit a rock. Why, _oh why_ , did her shovel just _have_ to hit a rock.

The girl sighed as she crouched down, throwing the inconveniently placed rock away from her spot, getting rid of any other rocks she found as well.

As Meredith stood back up, she casually glanced across the street, groaning once she saw that annoying Alex kid she had just met a few days prior.

She continued to work on digging her hole, painstakingly aware of the boy approaching her, and surprise, holding that ailly camera.

With another dig, Alex had completely crossed the street and had reached Meredith. She didn't want him here, she much preferred to brood alone. She could take care of herself, pretty much, and she didn't need or want him. Besides, boys had cooties, Meredith couldn't afford to catch cooties and she knew that no doctor could fix them. Cooties were _terrible_!

Alex opened his mouth, but before he could speak, Meredith cut him off.

"Could you please not videotape me." she heard her voice mumble. All shreds of her tough act crumbled down around her even if it had only been in her head.

She wasn't brave, or outgoing.

She wasn't extraordinary.

She looked over at the crumpled picture and her matted, disgusting, and scarred teddy bear. Her beloved Mr. Fluffy. He had been with her through thick and thin. Through good and bad. She had received Mr. Fluffy from her dad when she was only a baby. Meredith had also only had the bear for 6 years, and it only took her five to turn him into what he was today.

Sure, he was an eyesore, and that was pretty obvious. But to her, his disgusting appearance meant that he had been loved.

He was missing an eye - from a time Meredith had been swinging on a swingset at preschool. The small button eye had gotten stuck in the swing's chain.

Mr. Fluffy had a long scar down his tummy as well - from when Meredith tried to give him a surgery. Just like her mom.

He had an arm with no stuffing - from the time when the meanest kid in kindergarten ripped it off. Meredith had somehow managed to superglue the limb back on, only getting one finger stuck to the fur in the process.

Mr. Fluffy had been her only constant in life. With her mother spending as much time as possible, she was rarely there for Meredith. Before her father had left, and before her mother moved the two of them to the suburbs of Boston, it had been Mr. Fluffy and her dad. But he left, and it was now just her and Mr. Fluffy.

The boy clicked the camera off.

CLUNK

She continued on forming her hole. Hopefully, she would be done soon, but she knew deep inside that she wouldn't be.

CLUNK

She still only partially understood why was she doing this. Originally, it was for some weird sense of closure, but now, it was more a sense of obligation since she didn't want to leave it half finished. Her Mother had been mad at her for still asking about Dad, even though it had been over a year.

CLUNK

Ellis had told her to bury her feeliings, that it was the strong thing to do, that they didn't need him. Just bury your feelings.

As Meredith shoveled the dirt off to her side, she glanced up at the darkening sky. The clouds were a worrying gray, and heavy with rain, so they were very prominent against the shining, yet gray, sky.

Seattle

Sure, it rained everywhere, but the rain reminded her of her home, Seattle. It probably always would.

She often sat on the wooden porch wing at her old home to watch the rain… with her dad. It didn't swing back and forth, or really move at all anymore, but it was all the same to Meredith.

Other times when it rained, Meredith would rid herself of her socks and her shoes. She would run down her driveway and into the street, her bare feet making a small pitter patter on the pavement. And her dad would watch her with amusement

The rainwater rushing through the gutters was a river, just asking to be splashed through. Her clothes would be clinging to her skin, but it didn't matter to Meredith.

Alex's voice tore her away from her thoughts.

Meredith turned to face him, her eyebrows raised in question. Before she knew it, a small "huh?" had escaped her lips.

"Seattle, what was it like there, in Seattle?" repeated the boy. Meredith had never mentioned Seattle to him, so how did he know?

' _Well, mom's car does have that thing on the back that says Seattle, Washington, but he probably didn't notice that.'_ Giving up on any explanations, Meredith decided she should ask.

"How do you know I'm from Seattle?" the boy looked at her as if he was now embarrassed for knowing this piece of information, but still answered her question nonetheless.

"I heard you ask your mom about it a few days ago." Filling in the unspoken, but obvious, Meredith realized that he had been listening to her and her mother's conversation. She didn't know much about the boy, but she sure knew that he was definitely nosey.

"Well, it was big and there was a lot of people. It rained a lot too." Meredith kept her answer brief, hoping that Alex would get the hint that she wanted him to leave. He didn't

"I used to live in Iowa with my mom, then we moved out here last year. My mom had another baby a few months ago too, but he doesn't live with us." The enthusiasm in Alex's voice faded away as he finished his sentence, but Meredith didn't care.

"Cool." her voice monotone. She shifted her focus back to her hole, thoughtlessly shoveling the dirt off to the side.

"Anyways," he continued, enthusiasm returning to his words, "I saw your mom yesterday, but do you have a dad?"

She did, everyone had a dad, right? But no, Meredith didn't she was told to forget him, she was burying the memories, the feelings.

She ignored him. 'Him': referring to Alex or her dad, either worked. Meredith didn't like to think about her dad, Thatcher. Her mom told her not to think about him anymore - or talk about it. But truth be told, she missed her dad.

He had poured her cereal in the morning. He had tucked her in at night, and made sure that there were no monsters hiding under her bed, or in her closet. When Meredith couldn't sleep, Thatcher would sing her a lullaby, because that would always calm her down, and it put her right to sleep. He would play dolls with her and Anatomy Jane.

But one day, after her parents yelling a lot, he packed up a suitcase. He told Meredith he would be back really soon, that he would be back for dinner.

So she waited…

And waited…

And waited…

And waited…

He never came home.

Five hours later, five hours after her father left, her mom came home. She dropped take out on the kitchen table for Meredith, half eaten takeout at that, and went straight up to bed.

Meredith had been three, almost four at the time, and now, two years later, her mother had packed up everything they owned at moved the two of them across the country to the suburbs of Boston. And now, this annoying boy was talking to her, and would not leave her alone.

' _Wait'_ she corrected, ' _all boys were annoying, what other kind were there?'_

A big raindrop fell on Meredith's head. It was raining. Meredith looked up at the sky as the rain began to pitter patter down, so far only a few scattered drops.

And she dropped the crumpled, sad looking picture into the hole. It had been her, her mother, and her father. She was sitting in a red wagon in front of the elementary school.

As the rain began to drizzle down, she hurriedly shoveled all the upturned dirt back into the hole, definitely flinging some dirt onto Alex. On accidentally of course.

The rain was pouring now. Meredith had long given up trying to return all the dirt back to it's rightful place, so she had just left it in the pile next to her hole. Suddenly remembering the boy, she turned around to see that he was no longer there.

Meredith glanced all around, finally to see him running across the street back to his house. But to her confusement, he only sat on his porch, Alex did not go back inside.

Mr. Fluffy! Forgetting Alex, Meredith practically lunged for her beloved teddy bear. How could she have left him to get soaked? She hugged the bear to her chest, fighting the urge to run through the streets, to play in the rain. She had to do this for Mr. Fluffy's sake.

The girl turned around, about to head back into her new house to change her dress, perhaps something less… wet. But before she could make any movement, her mother came running out of the house.

"Meredith, my liver transplant patient is coding, we're going to the hospital." Ellis, her mother, climbed into the driver's seat, turning the key in the ignition.

Meredith stood there, waiting for her mother to drive off like she always did. Instead she heard she mother yelling, and loud enough for Meredith to hear it from outside of the car, a new accomplishment for Ellis.

"What are you waiting for! Get in the car!" It had been 3 years but Meredith was still getting used to going to the hospital with her mother. She blinked a few times before she rushed to get into the car. She sat herself down in her car seat and buckled herself up, something that she was used to, as her mother always forgot to do. Mr. Fluffy sat next to her.

What would this new hospital be like?

Would it have kind nurses who let her color on old E.R. charts?

Would the nurses let her sit behind the nurse's station?

Would she still get to take naps in the resident's lounge?

Meredith didn't know any of this, how could she? But Meredith did know that this new hospital would never be Seattle Grace, and it wouldn't have her dad.

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 **Authors Note (Again):** **So, there you have it! As you can tell, there are some changes I made to the original story line. Thatcher left when Meredith was 3, not only was Ellis having an affair with Richard, Thatcher was having an affair with Susan. Thatcher left Ellis when Susan realized she was pregnant with Lexie, so they eloped a few days later. Richard and Ellis stayed together for a little while longer. Ellis has already had Maggie as well, but she has not tried to kill herself yet. Alex lived in Iowa with his mom, but then moved to Boston to be with his dad. I am going to change one small thing in chapter 1 though, instead, Aaron was still a newborn and is already gone, Amber will come into play later.**

 **And I know this is Cliche and EVERYONE says this, but it would mean a lot to me if you would review, give some feedback, something! Love you guys!**

 **xoxo**


	3. Playground Days

**Author's Note:** **Hey guys! I'm back! And it didn't take me a whole month to update. Hopefully I'll be able to get the next chapter up this fast as well, or faster. This chapter is set a few days after the previous one fyi, and it is in both of their perspectives. I put a lot of effort into this, so it would mean A LOT to me if you could please review after reading, just to know what you think. Anyways, I love you guys! blah blah blah, let's get on with it already!**

 **Disclaimer:** **Grey's Anatomy does not belong to me, we all know that is belongs to Shonda Rhimes. Yadda Yadda Yadda, Its 10:40 and im still working on this and I just want to finish and go to be.**

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 **Chapter 3 - Playground Days - 1986 - 6 years old**

A swarm of kids sprinted out of Johnson Elementary school, Meredith and Alex among them.

They weren't running because school was out, they were, however, running since it was recess time.

Alex and his friends, Tommy and Cody, rushed to the 'gray playground'. Cody dangled from the monkey bars by his knees while Tommy went and played on the trapeze-like bar.

Meredith, on the other hand, had headed off alone to play on the 'train monkey bars'. The 'train monkey bars' looked like a black train engine with a set of monkey bars as a roof, and no back so it was a pretty open area.

Meredith ran up to the bars, looking up at them, a daunting 6 inches above her raised arms. And wow, was it high up! Sure, she was small for her age, but it really did seem far to her. She eyed the small ladder that was mounted into the engine's tin wall, conveniently next to the monkey bars. It had to be there to help, right?

She looked back up the monkey bars. It wasn't that far up, and at her old school, only the little kids used the ladder on the short monkey bars, and she wasn't a little kid! Well, besides for her height. Meredith gathered up all of the courage she could muster up and jumped up to grab onto the bars.

* * *

As Tommy and Cody climbed amok around the gray playground, Alex went climbing up the huge ladder wall. The ladder wall had to be at least twice as tall as he was and twice as long as his arm span. The ladder wall was at a 90-degree angle to this long bar, about the same height as the ladder wall (and a shorter bar next to that one of course) and the monkey bars. Each ladder looked stretched out, so the open section between the foot holds on the ladder were a foot or so long.

At the top of the ladder wall, Alex shifted himself over to the left so he was sitting on top of the monkey bars, a skill a 3rd grader had shown him last year. He scooted himself across the monkey bars so he was about in the middle, where a tall, thin pole happened to be to support the monkey bars, it was also very convenient to use to slide down.

"Hey Alex! What's in your pocket?" Tommy called from his spot of dangling like and idiot from the trapeze bar. Alex looked down and realized that he had noticed the video camera jostling around in his red hoodie pocket.

He said the camera out of his pocket and held it up for Tommy and Cody to see "It's just a video camera.

Their jaws dropped down to the floor. Had they seriously never seen a video camera before? "Just a video camera? Wow, Alex, that's so cool! But why do you have it?" Cody asked. Alex noted that Cody had moved over to the long bars, parallel from the monkey bars.

Alex shrugged, "I don't know. I just thought that there would maybe be something funny for me to video."

Tommy climbed up the ladder wall and up onto the monkey bars, and over to where Alex sat, finally sitting down there. Alex mindlessly handed Tommy his camera. He admired it for a few seconds in his hands then passed it on to Cody, who had apparently followed Tommy up and was now sitting next to Tommy.

As the video camera eventually made its way back into Alex's hands, Tommy pointed across the playground at the Train Monkeybars, laughing his head off.

"Looks like the new girl is about to meet Ella!"

* * *

Meredith swung her legs forward for the umpteenth time, trying to gain enough momentum to swing forward and grab onto the next bar. That is not what happened.

"Rawr!"

Before Meredith knew it she had lost her grip just as she was about to move on to the next bar. What was happening? Who was this crazy child? Ugh, she knew she hated this school.

Spitting the dirty playground rocks out of her mouth, Meredith turned over slowly, propping herself up with her elbows. A girl her age stood in front of her with a playful smile (or crazed, that seemed to be a fine line with this kid) plastered over her face, she was also missing a front tooth. The girl's long dirty blonde hair fell halfway down her back.

She had bangs, like Meredith, but her's came down just over her eyes. Meredith also noted that she wore a tattered and faded pink dress, with ruffles at the bottom of the dress and at the sleeves, forming a small cuff over the shoulder. The chest of the dress bore three Disney Princesses - Snow White, Belle, and Sleeping Beauty. Kind of Ironic in Meredith's opinion.

"Hi!" the girl yelled. Meredith's eyes widened in fear and scooted away, as far and as fast as she could from the girl.

The girl must have seen Meredith's withdrawal as an invitation to play tag or some other game because she began to chase after Meredith's retreating figure.

Meredith screamed as she saw her approaching. She jumped up and began to run, run as if her life depended on it because, in her mind, it did.

The three boys laughed as they watched Ella chase Meredith around the playground. Tommy clapped Alex on the shoulder while Cody almost doubled over in laughter, using a death grip on the metal monkey bars to keep from falling off.

Meredith had jumped up and as of now had accidentally engaged Ella in a game of tag. And you'd better believe that tag was not a game you wanted to play with Ella.

* * *

Even from where Alex sat, he could see the fear etched upon Meredith's face. For a split second, maybe two, Alex felt bad for her, but he quickly shook away the feeling and continued to laugh along with his friends, because it was pretty funny. Everyone had been terrorized by Ella at some point, the kids in their grade, the kindergarteners, even the older kids, but hey! Alex wasn't going to argue. Ella had at least half of the school scared of her, and not even on purpose, it was just who she was. At least it gained their whole grade some school power. As he was saying, meeting Ella on the playground was practically a rite of passage. It happened to everyone, Meredith would get over it.

"This, this is, oh this is just amazing!" Tommy laughed, pointing at Meredith and Ella once again. Alex zoomed in on them. They were running in circles around the large swing set, dodging kids swinging as they went. Alex could also guarantee that most of the kids swinging were snickering at the two girls.

Meredith eventually stopped running in circles and crossed the rocky playground to the blacktop.

Alex laughed. Meredith was definitely putting up one good fight.

* * *

As Meredith ran onto the blacktop, she hoped and prayed to any and every god she could think of to save her from this monstrosity. Apparently, none of the gods the had thought of were on her side because she heard a set of footsteps follow her onto the pavement

Oh boy. Was it too much to ask for Zeus to strike her down with a lightning bolt?

Meredith continued on, wheezing from all the running that her body, especially her lungs, were not used too. This girl was tiring her out! Meredith had never imagined that this would be the kind of welcome she would get to her new school. But Johnson Elementary was a pretty small school, only one, maybe two classes per grade level. All the kids in each grade level already knew each other. They had already made friends, they didn't need another friend. Meredith felt like an intruder. Like an unwanted spider in a bathroom stall.

Meredith sighed and turned around to see if the girl was still chasing her, not stopping her sprint as she checked. She was still chasing her. This girl was relentless.

Just as Meredith turned back around to face forward again, _WHAM!_

She had sprinted full speed into a brick wall. Meredith hadn't even realized that she was that close to the school building.

Meredith stumbled backward and fell onto the blacktop on her back.

Meredith reached up and rubbed her nose when she felt something sticky. As she moved her hand back into her line of vision, the side of her hand was sticky with her own blood. Great. Just great.

As Meredith was about to sit up, the girl's face appeared above her own.

"Hi!" She yelled, Meredith winced, "I'm Ella! You wanna be my friend?" oh boy.

'Um, no. No thank you!' Meredith wanted to yell. But she audibly groaned when she heard the words that came out of her mouth.

"S-Sure" What did she just get herself into?

* * *

 **Author's Note: So? what did you guys think? I know, I know, nothing is happening between Meredith and Alex yet, but you have to let it build up, ok? ok. So now we have more characters! There's Tommy, Cody, and Ella, cause Meredith and Alex need more than just one friend. Some more people will be coming in next chapter. Anywho, it's almost 11 and I need to go to bed as I have this major test tomorrow and I need to be up at 5:30 am. Love you guys!**

 **xoxo**


	4. Role Reversal

**Chapter 4 - Role Reversal - 1986 - 6 years old.**

Backpack: check.

Her sparkly purple folder was placed in neatly. Her reading book in front of the folder. A pencil pouch in front of the book.

Meredith's backpack was always neatly packed. One of the things she had inherited from her mother, her organization.

Lunch box: check.

Meredith's light blue lunch box was sitting next to her backpack. Meredith had prepared a semi messy sandwich and thrown in a few things she had found in the pantry and refrigerator. Ellis usually left her lunch money, besides for when she forgot. This was one of the days where she forgot.

This also happened to be one of those days where Ellis was paged in early for a mass casualty. Her Mother wasn't home which meant that she had no ride to school. Which also meant that Meredith would be walking to school today.

She stepped out through the door. Meredith slipped her pink Hello Kitty backpack over her shoulders and started down the small collection of 4 steps that led towards the driveway.

Meredith had been watching the way her mother drove her to school the past week and a half. She had remembered how the way she took was a left, straight down the road, left, straight the whole way down the next one, eventually ending in 1 more left, then school.

As she neared the corner her house sat on, ready to make the left, she heard the screen door of another house slam shut.

She turned to see Alex coming from his house. He was wearing baggy jeans and the same old red sweatshirt. She couldn't see his face, as he was looking down, his face half hidden in his hood.

Meredith slowed down, enough where Alex would catch up in not too long, but not enough where he would notice (if he had even seen her).

Soon enough, Alex had caught up with her- on the sidewalk opposite of where she was.

Meredith looked down, realizing she had subconsciously began to kick a rock. She looked back over to Alex. His whole demeanor seemed off from their previous encounters.

Meredith shrugged the feeling off and continued to walk, keeping her pace the same as the boy's.

Instead, she chose to focus on her new friends at school, Ella, and by default, Julia. Julia was best friends with Ella, which meant she was now friends with Meredith. Julia, like Meredith, was quiet but could be overwhelmingly loud when she wanted to be. The three of them actually got along pretty well. Meredith's quietness and Julia's shyness balanced out Ella's loudness and obnoxiousness.

The three of them sat together at lunch. Since there was only the three of them, they also shared a table with Alex and the rest of his gross boy friends, but they made sure to leave enough space between the boys and them. It had surprised Meredith to see that Alex was actually one of the more quiet ones in the group. Maybe he was just more annoying when it came to her.

Long story short, school was going pretty great so far. Well, her teacher, Mrs. Tuck, was pretty mean, but Meredith just did her best to stay out of her way and not bring herself to attention. And school started at 8:05, so that wasn't too bad.

Meredith looked back across the street, too curious to stop herself. Alex was still ignoring her. What was up with him? Last week, he had wanted to be her friend, but now he was acting like she didn't exist.

Sure, she had ignored him, but she had found comfort that someone in Boston wanted to be her friend.

And he had been getting much quieter at lunch. Maybe something was wrong?

Meredith took a deep breath and just decided to go for it.

"Hey, uh, Alex." He still didn't look up.

"Ok, fine ignore me, whatever." Meredith mumbled. Maybe it was a good thing they weren't friends. They just seemed to annoy each other.

This same routine went on for a while longer. Meredith struggling to keep quiet for one of the first times in her life and Alex brooding on the other side.

With another glance, Meredith had made her decision.

She took in a deep breath and crossed the street. Soon enough, Meredith was walking step in step with the boy.

Still looking down, he grumbled, "What are you doing?"

"Walking." She shrugged.

"Why?" Alex asked, bristling as she clearly did what she wanted.

"Well. I kinda have to go to school." Meredith deadpanned. She was normally never this bold, but it must've just been something about him that made her want to annoy him to death. It's probably the cooties.

"Humph. Well, you can walk over on the other side of the street." He decided. Meredith sighed. He was impossible, but the bickering was completely addicting.

"I'm good over here. The school's on this side anyways." She smiled, just knowing it would push him further over the edge.

The boy simply grumbled under his breath and hunkered his way in front of Meredith. She let him stay in the front a while, figuring he would probably need a small break from her before she started up again.

The two eventually neared the school. But on their way, Meredith had noticed he had his face hidden the whole way there. From all the time she had spent with her Mother's unspoken words, she knew something was up.

When they came up to the front of the school, the other kids all running through the door. Meredith grabbed his arm and pulled him to face her.

"Why can't you just leave me alone!" Alex half yelled half choked out. And with that, her neighbor had yanked himself out of her grasp and stormed into Johnson Elementary.

But not before Meredith could see the blue and black surrounding his eye.

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 **A/N :** **Hey guys! Sorry it took FOREVER for me to update again, most of you have probably forgot about this story by now. I was going through a major writers block, but i do know what I'm going to do with the next chapter. And also, sorry this one's kinda short, but it's leading up to something good. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed the latest installment!**


	5. A Second Perspective

**A/N:** **Hey Guys! here's another chapter of the story, and I'm pretty sure I got it here a lot faster than the past chapters. ANYWAYS, This is the same plot as last chapter, just told from Alex's perspective instead. I worked super hard on it so I hope you guys like it! I won't keep you waiting much longer except to say... Please Review the chapter! It'd mean a lot to me to know what you guys like, don't like, and what you think of the story, so** ** _please_** **do so :)**

 **Disclaimer:** **Grey's Anatomy IS NOT MINE, nor will ever be. Trust me! If I owned Grey's it would solely focus on Mark and Lexie and be filled with only fluff and angst.**

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 **Chapter 5 - A second perspective - 1986 - 6 years old**

"Dammit, Alex! Just get out before I give you something to cry about!"

Alex Karev stumbled out of his house, the screen door slamming shut. He was dressed in his usual baggy red hoodie and too big jeans. It wasn't his first choice in clothes, but it hid the bruises.

His dad had been doing this more and more often since Aaron was gone. As if he actually cared. He used it as an excuse to distribute even more physical and emotional pain on his remaining family. Aaron was gone and Alex was the one paying. Paying in the form of today's new black eye, bust lip, and bruises decorating his ribs.

So here he was today, taking his new daily injuries 'Like a Champ'. Alex had become a master at keeping his head down at school, hiding the pain. None of the teachers paid attention, and none of the kids would understand.

He slowly stepped away from the front porch, releasing the breath he hadn't even noticed he was holding.

Alex slung his backpack over his shoulder and headed on his way to school.

He decided to stick with his previous plan. Keep his head down, don't draw attention to himself.

He looked up slightly when he heard the soft sound of a pebble bouncing on the sidewalk.

Great. That Meredith kid. He didn't know too much about her, but he knew that she always seemed quiet, but wasn't, and was definitely too nosy. The nosy part would definitely not turn out good for him. So he kept his head down and hoped she wouldn't notice him. She was still in front of him, so things were going his way.

His father had given him a beating this morning. Alex didn't even know what he did to deserve it! He has simply been playing with his old train set when his father 'asked' for him to 'get his ass downstairs'. Next, he knew, he was in trouble! It couldn't possibly be Alex's fault, right?

Alex glanced back up at Meredith. She was staring at him. Why was she staring at him!

Right as he was about to put her in her place, she looked away bored. Alex kept walking, but he couldn't get this thought out of his head.

What if someone saw his already bruising eye?

Or the very red imprint of a hand on his cheek?

Or Even the bruises on his arms from being grabbed?

Alex didn't know what he would tell them. No one would know how to answer those kinds of questions.

He was pretty sure Tommy and Cody were a little too stupid to understand the reality of his marks, if they even really noticed them at all. And everyone knew the Teachers just didn't care at all. Their only concern was getting their paycheck and making house payments.

But something, something Alex just couldn't explain, told him what he'd been fearing since she moved into the neighborhood. Something told him that Meredith would notice and understand his bruises. That she would try to go something to help. That she would get involved in something she needn't stick her obnoxious nose into.

He had been doing good at hiding them so far. Alex wore his now signature baggy red hoodie and frayed jeans. They definitely weren't the best quality clothes, but nobody cared enough to question it. Everyone just assumed that that was the best they could afford.

Not that their assumptions were wrong.

But it was just his darn luck that the horrible quality clothes his parents provided him with were just what he needed to cover his patterned skin.

It had been working for him so far. His friends were oblivious. Once again teachers didn't care. The only attention ever really drawn to him, in general, were the stupid kids in his class or the annoying older kids making fun of his clothes.

But he didn't care, because they didn't notice what was underneath.

As Alex glanced back over at the girl to see that she was staring at him again.

Just as he thought Meredith would look away like last time, she spoke up instead. Great.

"Hey, uh, Alex." Staring back at his shoes, he ignored her. Why did she want to talk all of a sudden? He had wanted to be friends, but she just squashed him like dirt, so he wasn't going to be friendly to her either.

"Ok, fine, ignore me. Whatever." And that's exactly what I'll do, he thought. He couldn't have stopped his sarcastic idea if he wanted. And he definitely didn't mind it at all.

Besides, it was probably a good thing if they weren't friends. All they seemed to do was annoy each other.

As she hilariously struggled to stay silent, Alex marveled at how much he seemed to be bothering her.

But what was up with him? Last week, he had tried to be her friend and Meredith ignored him, but now all of a sudden she was all curious and friendly. Girls, they don't make any sense.

Alex gave up on trying to understand him and just focused on the sidewalk as he walked. Well, that was until he heard the slight pitter-patter of Meredith crossing the street to meet up with him. This girl did not give up!

She started to walk step in step with him. And that was what broke him.

"What are you doing" he grumbled. Wasn't it clear to her that he was not in the mood for a friendly 'chit chat'? Clearly, it was not.

"Walking." She replied, her voice reeking of complete nonchalance. God this girl knew how to get on his nerves!

He fired back with his own "Why?", making sure it sounded as annoyed as he did.

"Well, I kinda have to go to school." The girl deadpanned. _This girl is just trying and trying to drive me crazy, isn't she?_ What bothered him the most is that she was succeeding!

His mind told him to just ignore her, that she'd get bored of bothering the living crap out of him and go back to ignoring him as well.

His mouth had a different agenda.

"Humph. Well, you can walk over on the other side of the street." He decided. At this point, he would do anything to get her away from him. All Meredith was doing was firing him up more, and more, and more. And he knew that he would eventually snap.

"I'm good over here. The school's on this side anyways." Fine. If she was going to stay over here, he wasn't going to listen to her endless bickering.

He pushed his way ahead of her, hoping and wishing to get to school faster by speed walking. But his plans didn't exactly work as his legs tired fast from his limited sleep the night before.

"Finally, I thought she'd never leave me alone" He grumbled as quietly as he could. Alex was aware that she was close enough to hear that he had said something, but not quite near enough to figure out what was said. He smirked to himself knowing that it would probably bother her to not know what he had said.

But what silently worried him was that she was leaving him alone. It didn't really seem like something she would do.

And somewhere inside of him, it was nagging at him that she wouldn't stay invisible for so long.

But he pushed it down, having different things to think about than the annoying girl trudging behind him

The two kids neared the school eventually, and he his relief, Meredith was still silent and behind him. Life could not be better.

Well, apparently, he had spoken much too soon.

She was thinking so hard, it was almost as if he could hear her thoughts. And what was going through her mind, he didn't really care or want to know.

The two neared the double doors to the school, kids laughing and squealing as they ran into the building with their friends.

Finally! He would be free to blend into the crowd and slink away from her.

But his fantasy was disrupted when a hard yank on his arm twisted him around to face her.

His hood had fallen off and he knew his bruises and black eye were clearly visible to Meredith.

Her eyes widened in shock right as he yelled. And he knew he had snapped.

"Why can't you just leave me alone!"

Before she even knew it, Alex had ripped his arm from her grasp and disappeared once again into the crowd.

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 **A/N:** **So there you have it! please don't hurt me for hurting poor little Alex, I promise it will eventually get better. Please Review it'd mean so much to me (God, I sound like a youtuber, 'Please like and subscribe and leave a comment down below!') Hope you liked this chapter!**


	6. TEMPORARILY On Hold

Hey guys, it's been a while. I am so sorry I haven't updated this in forever, but I definitely haven't forgotten about it. I'm going to be putting this story on hold while I get more chapters finished, but I _will_ be working on this. So sorry! I'll be back as soon as I can.


	7. Table for Four

Hey Guys! I know, I know, It's been so long since I updated this story and I am sorry. But here is chapter 6 and I've already started chapter 7. We are also starting our writing unit at school so hopefully I'll also be improving my writing skills as well.

I also want to say thank you to everyone who's stuck with me through my irregular updates and everyone who has been reviewing, it really means a lot to me and gives me the motivation to finish another chapter.

It had been over a week since Meredith has seen Alex's black eye, and she had not left him alone since.

It had been anything and everything. From sitting right next to him on the carpet, or pestering and pelting him with her unrelenting questions until he stormed away in frustration.

She was determined.

Alex had managed well at pushing her away so far, no matter how annoying Meredith got. She even came over to his house once! Alex had been flooded with relief, no matter how annoying the girl was, he would never wish the wrath of his unforgiving father upon anyone, not even her. But even then, Alex had not opened the door for her.

She was annoying.

Alex had even been forced to spend nights at Cody and Tommy's houses, just to get away from his annoyingly persistent neighbor. He had kept himself surrounded by the two boys at school, and it had been seemingly working. Until they both were out sick from licking the slide, those idiots.

So there he was at lunch, his first day without Cody and Tommy, and Alex knew it wasn't going to go well. Like most kids, lunch was Alex's favorite part of the day, but for many reasons. The obvious one, food, but other reasons played in as well. For one, he could chatter freely with his friends and do as he pleased. Alex also loved how they could almost be as disruptive and obnoxious as they wanted, practically leaping from wall to wall since the lunch ladies never gave any of the kids the time of day.

But mostly, because Alex never really had great meals at home, if any. Whenever there was food, it was normally just a lumpy peanut butter and jelly sandwich. So even the gray, smelly, horribly cliche school cafeteria lunch was pretty good in comparison.

Today was not a day that Alexander Karev would enjoy lunch.

When Alex stepped away from the crowded lunch line with his borderline raw chicken patty, he instinctively looked to his usual seat, which to his luck just so happened to be the other half of the table Meredith and her friends sat at. Simply seeing his empty half of the table was only another reminder of the fact that he was open and vulnerable to Meredith's daily annoyance. With a sigh of resentment, Alex knew it could only go downhill from here.

He slowly sauntered to his seat, dropping his plastic lunch tray noisily onto the table, letting it clatter until it was completely flat. Not realizing he was only drawing more attention to himself than wanted, he topped it off with a plop onto the conjoined bench, but Alex kept to himself, hoping the girls would realize he wasn't up for polite chit chat of any sort. 'Cause, that's what girls did, right?

Alex continued to slowly chew his chicken patty in complete silence, not even his gagging from the taste making a noise. Even the girls' side had fallen into his silence.

Alex looked over at the three girls, having to choke back a groan when he once again saw Meredith's eyes piercing his with her newly accustomed glare that somehow managed to show her annoyance and her worry. Alex hated it, but he liked to think that he was the motivation behind it since he had been avoiding her for a week. She definitely looked as if her pestering were about to begin, which would break his amazing silence, but she was beaten by Ella's very loud, and even more piercing voice.

"Hi Alex!" her voice almost comical in the volume it had achieved, "Come sit with us!"

He knew, at this point, it wasn't really a question. Then again, with Ella, it was never a question.

He, in turn, gave Ella an 'Alex Karev Special Glare', typically reserved for Meredith, but no need to worry, it was definitely transferable. But alas, the special glare had no effect on the demon-child he faced.

Ella instead lunged out and latched onto his sore arm, dragging him to the other side of the table.

Alex retrieved his limb from her sharp grasp, rubbing the numbness out of his forearm. He looked longingly at his forgotten tray sitting lonesome at his previous spot until Julia slid it over to him with a sympathetic smile.

It was then he decided Julia was the nice one, therefore his favorite.

"I saw a movie last night. It was super cool! It was Karate Kid, I'm gonna be just like that Daniel guy when I'm grown up!" Was this all Ella did? To Alex, it seemed like she mindlessly moved from topic to topic.

"I wanna be a famous softball person." Alex looked up to see Julia talking, something he rarely knew her to do. But why would she want to do softball? It seemed like a worse version of baseball. Then again, it's not like he understood either sport.

The table was enveloped in a strange quiet. He looked around the table to see Meredith and Julia picking at their food, and Ella's eyes wide as if the silence was about to smother her.

The girls began talking again, blending in with the buzz of the cafeteria. Alex instead returned to pushing around his food with the fork. Would they notice if he left? He could probably get away with it, you know, he did use to sneak past his drunk father at any time of night trying to grab a glass of water.

When he looked up, preparing to slide his tray away from the girls, he was met with a pair of hard green eyes.

Crap.

He and Meredith were captured in a staring contest, of sorts. Neither moved. Not an inch. Not until Meredith's eye drifted to only one of his, the one which had priorly been bruised. Drifting back to his gaze, she simply raised an eyebrow. That slight movement in itself was dangerously loaded with a million questions, accusations, worries.

How did she do that?

"What?" Alex growled out, surprising himself at the tone he managed. Was he more like his dad than he thought?

She fired almost immediately right back at him. "What?"

Her face was completely cool. Emotionless. Hard.

Innocent; as if she had no idea what anything that had happened to him meant; as if she had no idea what could be frustrating him. From what he had seen so far, maybe she was more like her mom than she had thought as well.

He almost felt bad for her. Was this what had drawn her to him? No. No. he was fraternizing with the enemy! Being friends with a girl? No, gross. Why in his right mind would he want to do that?

The little voice in his head dutifully reminded him that he was sitting at a table with girls emu compliantly.

It was then that Ella burst from the silence.

"I- I- I can't take it anymore! What happened! It's normal for me being the one taking, but even Alex is quiet! Yeah, he's a doofus, but he's a loud one!"

They all stared at her, as she respectively sunk lower on the bench. Julia gave her a reassuring pat on the back.

Meredith and Alex exchanged awkward (yet confused) glances.

With a "smooth" change of topic, Ella declared her new thoughts.

"Gah, I'm tired… thoughts?"

"Get more sleep" Julia muttered under her breath, just loud enough to bring a soft laugh out of the four at the table.

Ella's face twisted in offense, "Hey, meanie!" And with that, the table erupted in laughter.

The kids looked at each other, busting out in even more laughter. If they had been protagonists in a movie where everything turned out alright, a heartfelt song would've been playing, as joyous looks they gave each other in played in slow motion. Ella clapped her hands in her joy and leaned onto Julia, who jokingly pushed her back. And if someone had looked very closely, they almost could've seen the small glance Meredith and Alex shared.

The one that acknowledged that they weren't friends, but that they definitely weren't the enemies they had thought they were destined to be.


End file.
